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Briarley

Aster Glenn Gray

4.03 · Rating details · 680 ratings · 187 reviews

An m/m World War II-era retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

During a chance summer shower, an English country parson takes refuge in a country house. The house seems deserted, yet the table is laid with a sumptuous banquet such as the parson has not seen since before war rationing.

Unnerved by the uncanny house, he flees, but stops to pluck a single perfect rose from the ...more

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Kindle Edition, 166 pages

Published May 5th 2018

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Lists with This Book

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

LGBT Retellings of classic Fiction/Fairy Tale/Myth

157 books — 113 voters

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

LGBT positive SFF

505 books — 184 voters

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· 680 ratings · 187 reviews

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Mar 25, 2020 Teal rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, freebie-or-gift, lendable, m-m, read-in-2020, sff, lgbtqi, best-of-read-in-2020, ntma-2020, review-queue

***** 4.5 stars *****

Let's put those stars into context.

I don't like fairy tales, I don't like retellings, I don’t like dragons. And what we have here is Beauty & the Beast retold as an m/m romance. With a dragon.

Yet… This obviously not-for-me book by a new-to-me author turned out to be amazing, moving, rich, touching, wonderful, and one of the best things I’ve read this year. (Her newest release, Honeytrap, which I finished yesterday, now holds the spot as my best book of 2020. So believe me, t ***** 4.5 stars *****

Let's put those stars into context.

I don't like fairy tales, I don't like retellings, I don’t like dragons. And what we have here is Beauty & the Beast retold as an m/m romance. With a dragon.

Yet… This obviously not-for-me book by a new-to-me author turned out to be amazing, moving, rich, touching, wonderful, and one of the best things I’ve read this year. (Her newest release, Honeytrap, which I finished yesterday, now holds the spot as my best book of 2020. So believe me, this author is a keeper.)

Written in such a casual, natural way that the lovely writing never draws attention to itself, the story reeled me in from the first pages. The setting, rural wartime England circa 1940, was richly imagined and felt deeply authentic. It felt true to books I’ve read set in Britain during and post-WWII, books written by authors who actually lived through those times.

I can't tell you how faithfully it tracks the fairy tale, or how/where it diverges from it, because I don’t know the Beauty & the Beast story. (Due to that whole “hating fairy tales” thing.) All I know is that it stands on its own as a story of two lonely men, thrown into months of forced proximity, gradually getting to know and appreciate and love each other. It moved me to tears, without ever degenerating into sentimentality.

This came so close to deserving 5 stars, but I had to hold back half a star because (view spoiler) Still, I'm rounding up because it was such a moving and immersive experience, and because it introduced me to an author who has the potential to become one of my all-time favorites.

If you'd like to see a review by someone who's actually familiar with Beauty & the Beast and can discuss the book from that perspective, please check out Cristina’s excellent review here. ...more

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May 14, 2018 Francesca Forrest rated it it was amazing

(This review duplicates what's in this Dreamwidth entry.)

Briarley retells the story of Beauty and the Beast, imagining what might happen if Beauty’s father was man enough not to let his daughter sacrifice herself for him. Instead, he stays in her place.

In this retelling, it’s World War II, and the father is a parson who’s also a veteran of the Great War, and the beast takes the form of a dragon.

You know this is going to be a different type of retelling by the parson’s initial reaction to the dr (This review duplicates what's in this Dreamwidth entry.)

Briarley retells the story of Beauty and the Beast, imagining what might happen if Beauty’s father was man enough not to let his daughter sacrifice herself for him. Instead, he stays in her place.

In this retelling, it’s World War II, and the father is a parson who’s also a veteran of the Great War, and the beast takes the form of a dragon.

You know this is going to be a different type of retelling by the parson’s initial reaction to the dragon’s dilemma:

“The curse says you must learn to love and be loved, does it not? Those are the only conditions?” The dragon nodded, his head still buried in his hands. The parson broke a piece off a roll and buttered it. “Then I suggest you get a puppy,” he said.

Nor is this mere flippancy: “I have seen shell-shocked soldiers make great, great strides when they are given charge of a dog,” he says, and adds,

“A dog is a more loving creature than man. All the things that we wish we were, dogs are: loyal, faithful, loving, and cheerful in the face of adversity.

And that’s the type of story this is: the parson musing on the nature of love, different types of love, in the company of the dragon, who’s at first haughty, vain, capricious, and entitled, but gradually becomes… well, somewhat less so. Gray resists the easy out of a dramatic personality transformation—the emotional equivalent of taking off the glasses and having a character become suddenly gorgeous. Real people are beloved despite being prickly and short tempered. In this story, the parson has reasons for feeling both deep pity for and a deep attachment to the young man that the dragon once was.

The two talk not only about love, but also morality, vindictiveness, compassion—so much. And lest I’ve made it sound like some kind of milk-soaked graham cracker of a story, let me quickly also add that it’s **funny** too, as when the dragon and the parson have this exchange:

“That’s not how you learn to love, not at all. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it does not kidnap – ”

“You’re misquoting,” the dragon interrupted. “Paul doesn’t say anything about kidnapping.”

The parson replies, “I believe the injunction against kidnapping is implied by all the rest of it.”

It’s an imaginative, moving, surprising story—I highly recommend it. ...more

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May 01, 2020 Cristina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, worldbuilding, queer, lgbtq, supernatural, ww2, folklore-and-legends

Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray is a fabulous queer retelling of the classic fairytale of Beauty and the Beast.

Set in the English countryside around the time of the Blitz in 1940, the story follows the adventures of a parson who finds himself tangled up with the curse that's been cast over the Briarley estate and its inhabitants.

Readers will probably be already familiar with the basic plot of the story either by reading one of its versions or through cinematic adaptations. Gray's novel preserve ...more

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Sep 20, 2020 Elena rated it liked it

Shelves: 3-and-a-half-stars, historical, bisexuals, dragons, location-uk, fantasy, lgbtqia, m-m, mc-age-40-50, magic

3.5 stars

The writing was technically beautiful and the story an original mix of modern (it’s set in 1940) and fairytale.
I say the writing was technically beautiful because even though I enjoyed the story and the storytelling flew easily, it failed to make me sink into the story and I felt detached from the characters, always aware that I was reading about characters in a book. As a result, I was also extremely aware of any inconsistency that could’ve easily been, and in some case was, explained 3.5 stars

The writing was technically beautiful and the story an original mix of modern (it’s set in 1940) and fairytale.
I say the writing was technically beautiful because even though I enjoyed the story and the storytelling flew easily, it failed to make me sink into the story and I felt detached from the characters, always aware that I was reading about characters in a book. As a result, I was also extremely aware of any inconsistency that could’ve easily been, and in some case was, explained with the ‘it’s a fairytale retelling’ card.
I’m not sure why, but part of it is certainly the fact that I didn’t even know the names of the MCs for most of the book and even after I learned their names, the parson was still referred to as ‘the parson’ until the end of the book. Another part is that this is presented as a m/m retelling of Beauty and the Beast but the ‘romance’ didn’t work for me at all. It didn’t feel natural, just pieced together to fit that description. Since (view spoiler) I’d have preferred if it wasn’t included at all. Everything else would’ve worked anyway, even if the two MCs had been friends.

Despite my issues, I enjoyed the story (I’m adding half a star for Daisy 💜) and I’m looking forward to discussing it more with the friends who joined me in this BR. 😊

Side note: just to give an example of what I meant by inconsistency that I should’ve explained away with the fairytale card and couldn’t, Harrods didn’t exist until 1849 and (view spoiler)
And hard as I try, I can’t buy how the parson (view spoiler)
...more

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Sep 20, 2020 Xia Xia rated it really liked it

Shelves: lgbt, abracadabra, m-m-romance, cute-love, historical, fantasy, ww2, 2020-52

I enjoyed this fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast very much.
Perfect for a Sunday BR with friends.

BR with Cristina, Elena, Gabi, Rosa and Teal.

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Oct 04, 2018 Marquise rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, 5-stars, exceptional-characterisation, oh-the-twists, authorial-style-i-like, for-the-laughs-and-giggles, beauty-and-the-beast-theme, charming-story, how-bitter-and-how-sweet, historical-fantasy

I'm going to put Briarley up there with the most original retellings of "Beauty and the Beast" I've read, because of the setting and the pairing as much as for the plot.

It's set in the English countryside during World War II, and despite the location sparing them from the most severe hardships of it, the war isn't absent from the story. It's there in the rationing, in the necessity for the young ones to go to the frontlines to fight or to nurse, and in the aerial dogfights betweeen the Luftwaffe I'm going to put Briarley up there with the most original retellings of "Beauty and the Beast" I've read, because of the setting and the pairing as much as for the plot.

It's set in the English countryside during World War II, and despite the location sparing them from the most severe hardships of it, the war isn't absent from the story. It's there in the rationing, in the necessity for the young ones to go to the frontlines to fight or to nurse, and in the aerial dogfights betweeen the Luftwaffe and the RAF that can be witnessed down from the manor, etc. I really appreciated that the insularity of the place wasn't used as an excuse to ignore the conflict, that historical events aren't window dressing here.

Then there's the characters. Parson Edward Harper is a kind and likable man in his middle age, widowed and with one daughter that's a war nurse, who is compelled by foul weather to seek refuge in a dark and seemingly abandoned manor when returning to his village after his duties. The manor is so spooky he's sent bicycling away at top speed almost as soon as he enters the place, but on his way he's tempted to pick a rose for his daughter, as he has the habit of bringing back a rose every time he's gone from home. As anyone who's read the original tale will know, this gets him in serious trouble with the manor's master. Who's a dragon. Yes, a realer than real dragon called Briarley. Cursed, of course. All this also a staple of Beauty & Beast retellings.

But that's where the by-the-letter adherence ot the fairy tale's plot ends, because the rest is different. It's essentially like those sweet and clean slow-burn romances from the 1800s that so many people still love to pieces even now, with the sole difference that it's a male-male pairing (I don't recall seeing a M/M clean romance before!). This being so short, instant love would've been expected, but it's kept going as slow as length permits instead. There's the other elements you'd expect in a Regency novel: the loyal gaggle of servants, the brooding housemaster, the irrepressible doggie, village eccentrics of all kinds... I sometimes had to remind myself that this was a "modern" story. There's plenty of banter as much as serious talk between the characters, and I appreciated that the societal and moral challenges to same-sex couples that would've plagued people from the time aren't avoided but discussed, and in a manner that doesn't detract from the storyline. ...more

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Jun 09, 2018 Camilla Monk rated it it was amazing

Just completely unexpected. Aster Glenn Gray re-imagines the eternal tale of the Beauty and the Beast in the countryside of warn-torn 1940 England. Is it corny at times? Obviously, as one expects. But it's mostly the smart, insightful, bittersweet and funny journey of a solitary dragon and the no-nonsense parson he kidnaps, and who won't trade his daughter's life for his. So the Parson stays, worms his way into the dragon's tiny, isolated world, and it's just pure pleasure to see them debate of ...more

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Apr 20, 2020 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew rated it it was amazing

Shelves: stars-4-5, tag-reviewed, fiction, genre-fantasy, kindle

Completely and utterly delightful re-telling of Beauty & the Beast. Thoughtful, intelligent, gently humorous; a very simple prose style that's still luminous. Never have I felt the want of an epilogue so badly.

If I'd enjoyed the book less, I would have shown how clever I was by commenting on some logistical question-marks about the plot. But they honestly don't matter. This is going on my DIK shelf for when I'm in need of humane tolerance. ...more

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Feb 03, 2021 Kathleen rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, fantasy, historical

The first half of this book took forever to get through. I thought about putting it aside. Repeatedly. I also wasn't fond of the religious content. But sometime after crossing into the second half, I was finally immersed, quit thinking about Edward being a parson, and just fell in love with the characters and the story. A very different style of writing. Many tears in the last quarter of the book. All in all, a lovely historical fantasy/PNR and a unique take on Beauty and the Beast. ...more

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Sep 21, 2020 Rosa rated it liked it

Shelves: books, gifts-and-freebies, buddy-reads, read-in-2020

I enjoyed this book a lot, it's a nice reading for an afternoon. I liked the writing style of this retelling of the Beauty and the Beast (view spoiler), is easy to read and the ambiance is lovely, but I think it would have benefited of some more pages. For me the "romance" felt rushed they were becoming friends and then, boom! I love you... some more pages to show how their friendship changed would have been wonderful and after that I wouldn't have minded if the b ...more

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Sep 21, 2020 Gabi rated it really liked it

Shelves: m-m-romance, magic, age-gap, lgbt, no-sex-ftb

3.5 rounded up

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May 11, 2018 Ambrosia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, e-book

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast where the beast is a dragon and the traveller a village parson who refuses to trade his daughter's freedom for his own? Where he stays with the beast himself and they have discussions on the nature of love and its varying forms? And also it's set in England during World War II? Clearly, I must read this immediately.

I am here to tell you that it is every bit as delightful as I'd hoped. The fairytale tone is charming without being twee, Briarley Hall has just th ...more

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Aug 19, 2020 Quaint rated it really liked it

The parson grew exasperated. “It’s not real love if it is only a means to an end,” he said.
..........
“Perhaps your love for you wife purified it?” the dragon suggested. “It did not need purifying,” the parson said.

This story is unique and quite resembles beauty and the beast but MM version. And isn't it beautiful? Love loveeeeeee ❤

Weakened by arduous journey, the parson stopped to shelter in a deserted house but it was well kept and cleaned. The parson did not believe in spell or superstition. H ...more

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Mar 22, 2020 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fantasy, historical-romances-for-adults

This is such a kind, gentle and funny retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Just lovely!

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Mar 23, 2020 Steven rated it it was amazing

An absolute gem! An unexpected retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in World War II England. At turns witty and poignant. Sumptuous and stark.

The author challenges traditions of the classic fairytale by swapping out a country parson in place of the beauty. And the beast isn’t the conventional bull/bear/lion hybrid we’ve come to associate with the story, but instead a real fire breathing winged dragon - with a bit more human form.

Its, yes, a tale as old as time *cringes* but the slow, inevitabl ...more

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Oct 31, 2018 Sharade rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, fantasy, fairy-tale, novella, historical-fiction, lgbt

Beauty and the Beast retellings always attract my attention, however full of questionable morals the original tale was. Remove the Stockholm Syndrome part and give the story a fresh twist and you'll have an enthusiastic reader in me.
This was the case for Briarley. The twist was in the setting (England during WWII) and in the protagonists (an older man instead of a young girl as the Beast's "captive") - and it worked perfectly well. The romance was a slow-burn, and I loved the book's touches of h ...more

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Jul 16, 2018 Malia rated it really liked it

OK, so Beauty and the Beast, but the dad doesn't sell out his daughter. And the beast is a dragon. And it's WWII, so you gotta fight some Nazis.

I don't know what else to tell you. This rules. ...more

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Dec 07, 2020 Annery rated it it was amazing

Shelves: odd-couples, lgb, age-difference, bisexual-pan-etc, english, novellas, its-complicated, ku, grown-up-love-story, all-the-feelz

I had been eyeing this for a bit (wooed by the cover because I'm shallow like that) but sort of iffy because I'm not a giant fan of fairytales. Imagine my surprise at being gobsmacked by this clever retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Oddly enough it was Florence's review of a separate book that gave me the needed push. Thank you.

The story takes the basic structure of B&B but Aster Glenn Gray makes it wholly original and her own. No Disney sugary sweetness in sight. Instead we get British stiff ...more

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Dec 18, 2020 French_fry rated it liked it

I’m not big on fairy tales but this was a sweet story. I did worry that with it ending in 1940 makes this more of a HFN.

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May 23, 2020 Kat, short for Clara rated it did not like it

Shelves: frou-frou-meh, paranormal-or-supernatural, lie-back-and-think-of-england, queer, why-did-i-read-this, short-story-or-novella, repetition-repetition, oh-oh-oh-it-s-magic, retellings, science-fiction-or-fantasy

Best premise. Worst execution. It even made me wish a dog would go away. Also how was it possible to order a pair of roller skates from Harrods when a) everyone had been cursed since 1840, and b) Harrods wasn’t founded until 1849. How did they discover the store’s existence and know it sold roller skates and that you could order a pair, but they didn’t know a war was going on???? *fumes*

Whoever was responsible for putting this book on my radar... I hope an enchantress comes along and curses you. ...more

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May 30, 2019 Helen Kord rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, historical, m-m, fantasy

This was absolutely beautiful. Gentle, smart and kind towards it's characters, with a wonderful slow-burn romance between an older disabled WW1 vet and a dragon, with an almost fairy tale atmosphere? It doesn't get more Helena-baity than that!

Edit for a reread: wow this book is even BETTER on a reread, how is that possible? ...more

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Jul 01, 2018 Jaya rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-we-read-the-same-book, liebesgeschichte, mmxviii, historical, bah-humbug, glbtqia, unitedkingdom-england, kindle, shots, slo-mo-ros

The romance part of it wasn't convincing, AT ALL! ...more

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Jan 19, 2020 Rachel Reid rated it it was amazing

This was so sweet!

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Jul 28, 2020 Amf0001 rated it really liked it

Lovely retelling of Beauty and the Beast, m/m version, set during WWII. I liked that it took it's time, gently meandering through the story. I loved the Parson and his sensibilities. I felt less for the Beast/Dragon who seemed to have learnt very little in a hundred years. He really did feel like the 20 year old who had been cursed and then never grew up.

I don't know how often I will reread it, but I'm happy to recommend it. On the basis of this book I will look for more by Aster Glenn Gray ...more

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Nov 13, 2020 Crystal Cook rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2020b

I love a good Beauty and the Veast retelling and thus one is one of my favorites. This is a M/M retelling set during WWII, which was unique enough to have me one clicking it instantly.

But I wasn't prepared for how beautiful this story would be. I loved the amount of characterization packed into this novella and the sweet, subtle love that was built and revealed the whole way through.

I loved this so much. This is one of those few books I would reread when I needed something comforting and hopefu ...more

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Oct 03, 2020 hedgehog rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fantasy, mm-romance, wwii, fairytales-folktales-mythology, read-in-2020, reviewed

3.5* rounding up because I read it all in one sitting/half a star for the dog (my ratings system is extremely objective and scientific). Sweet, slyly smart retelling of Beauty and the Beast, reimagined in a WWII countryside between a parson and a cursed dragon-beast. The fairytale tone here is perfect. Does anything really unexpected happen, no, but it's a retelling. I neither want nor need it to color too wildly outside of the lines. ...more

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Mar 21, 2020 Iona Sharma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020

Wonderful, ridiculous, funny and romantic. I'm pretty sure I'll be coming back to this one as a comfort read in time to come. ...more

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Nov 05, 2019 Leigh Kramer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: closed-door, lgbtqia, pets, favorites, grief-and-loss, disability, gay, mm, novella, retelling

This was so lovely that I have to take a moment to reflect upon said loveliness. Briarley is worth every penny and I need you all to read it. It's a MM Beauty & The Beast retelling set during WWII. All the more impressive is this is a novella. It’s one of the best historical romances I’ve ever read, as well as one of the best BATB retellings I’ve ever read.

The author reinterprets the source material in ways that give it so much more nuance. It’s thoroughly feminist, right down to the parson ref This was so lovely that I have to take a moment to reflect upon said loveliness. Briarley is worth every penny and I need you all to read it. It's a MM Beauty & The Beast retelling set during WWII. All the more impressive is this is a novella. It’s one of the best historical romances I’ve ever read, as well as one of the best BATB retellings I’ve ever read.

The author reinterprets the source material in ways that give it so much more nuance. It’s thoroughly feminist, right down to the parson refusing to send his daughter in his place. Edward consistently puts others’ needs above his own and that leads to the dragon holding him captive instead.

What initially starts off as an adversarial relationship between the two men slowly transforms into a friendship. Edward believes Briar is capable of love and wants to help him break the curse. He finds him a dog, who is missing his back legs from an accident years prior, and it was so touching to watch Briar care for it! Briar’s transformation does not happen overnight. Far from it. He’s been stuck in his ways for almost 120 years (he was 20 when the curse struck) and, spoiled privileged brat that he is and was, he wants it reversed without lifting a finger. His emotional arc was beautiful to watch and I was in awe of how Gray built toward it.

The has a great sense of humor throughout, which makes for a good balance, for example, as it explores the different attitudes about homosexuality in 1840 vs 1940. The dragon was cursed in 1840 and the story delves in to how the world has changed around him, from technological advances to current events. He’s also working through the religious and societal biases against homosexuality at the time and Edward can’t give him great hope about the prevailing attitudes in 1940. However, he had a loving relationship with a man and he’s done his own theological searching and determined their love was not wrong. Progress has been made in the intervening 100 years and it was so interesting to see how the story explored this, as well as how it examined faith, particularly through Edward’s work.

Lastly, Edward was injured during the first world war, when his boyfriend was also killed. The story does not shy away from depicting his disability, nor from the cost and toll of war as WWII’s dangers toward England make themselves known. I can’t speak to the representation but it struck me as honoring and true.

CW: war, homophobia, religious homophobia, bombing, house fire, leg injury ...more

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Mar 17, 2019 Janine Ballard rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018-releases

4 stars

don’t read a lot of m/m, but I love fairy-tale retellings and the concept of one set in the English countryside during the World War II blitz was different enough that I read a sample. I loved the author’s way with fairy-tale-style narration, so I ordered the entire novella.

It’s a lovely retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and the central and POV character is a widowed, middle-aged parson with a daughter named Rose. As in Beauty and the Beast, the parson plucks a rose to give to his daugh 4 stars

don’t read a lot of m/m, but I love fairy-tale retellings and the concept of one set in the English countryside during the World War II blitz was different enough that I read a sample. I loved the author’s way with fairy-tale-style narration, so I ordered the entire novella.

It’s a lovely retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and the central and POV character is a widowed, middle-aged parson with a daughter named Rose. As in Beauty and the Beast, the parson plucks a rose to give to his daughter and the beast (in this case, a dragon) insists on taking his daughter in exchange. But in this story, the parson refuses.

At first the dragon won’t release the parson–the hundredth anniversary of the curse that turned him into a dragon is coming up, and if he isn’t loved by then, not only he but also his invisible servants will die. Eventually, though, the parson decides to help the dragon, and from there things start to take a romantic turn.

I’m no expert on World War II England but there were some historical details I really enjoyed. Rationing! Curfews! Air raids!

The romance is slow burn; a little too slow for me—I didn’t get the sense that either hero was attracted to the other until close to halfway through. Initially, I wasn’t sure what to make of a dragon inserted into Beauty and the Beast, either, since all the other fantasy elements in the story were truer to B&B, but I got used to it. The dragon a bit too grumpy for my liking, but he too grew on me. The parson was absolutely lovely and there was also an adorable crippled dog, Daisy.

The author has a gift for the language of fairy tales. You can almost hear the voice of a storyteller sitting by the fireside and feel the warmth of the flames as you read her words. To give an example of what I mean, the novella begins this way:

There once was a country parson with a game leg from the Somme, who lived in a honey-colored parsonage with his daughter, the most beautiful girl in the world.

Others might have quibbled that Rose was not the most beautiful girl in the world, or even the prettiest girl in the village of Lesser Innsley. But to the parson she was all loveliness, all the more so because his wife died when their Rose was still very young, and so Rose was all he had left to love in this world.

Anyway, although it was a little slow-paced, I liked this novella and will keep an eye out for the author’s next book. B. ...more

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May 01, 2020 Nina ( picturetalk321 ) rated it liked it

Shelves: author-woman, genre-romance, z-read-gelesen-2020, a-reviewed, theme-disability, theme-m-m, theme-war

An unchallenging short read that hits a few happy buttons for me: middle-aged protagonist, dragon, m/m romance, country house seclusion. It is a historical romance on two counts: 1840 meets 1940, and this is quite nicely done. The chemistry between the main characters is sweet and at odd moments, even crackling, although altogether I would have liked more of the crackle, more of the UST, more detail of textures, glances, conversations. Also, I personally would have liked more nuance re World War ...more

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About Aster Glenn Gray

Aster Glenn Gray

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Aster Glenn Gray writes fantasies with a romantic twist, or romances with a fantastic twist. (And maybe other things too. She is still a work in progress.) When she is not writing, she spends much of her time haunting libraries, taking long walks, and doing battle with the weeds that seek to topple her tomato plants.